


Privet Drive

by ShivaVixen



Series: For Want of a Master [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Nosy Neighbors, Rumor Mill, Some experiments with writing styles, They Try Though, the Dursley’s are not as normal as they think they are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-08-31 23:44:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20248609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShivaVixen/pseuds/ShivaVixen
Summary: Someday, I will give names to these background characters... once I finish re-reading the Harry Potter books.





	1. Chapter 1

There were fourteen houses on Privet Drive, and they were all perfectly ordinary, completed by the widowed cat lady Mrs. Arabella Figg who has moved in a year after the Dursley’s at number four had gotten their nephew after the car crash that killed his parents.

For the most part, everyone was polite about the oddities their neighbors possessed, usually ignoring them; the way Mrs. Figg talked to her cats, for example, they understood the loss of her husband had made her a little dotty, like the one time she mentioned her relief at the lack of gnomes in her garden, the cats kept playing with them. What most couldn’t ignore was rule breaking. Like the time those in number 5 let their hedge go without trimming it for almost a year, or the former residents of number eight who never obeyed watering instructions during the previous drought.

But everyone kept an eye on the boys from number four. More than one had seen Dudley’s tantrums when he was younger, the boy wailing for sweets as his mother walked, and all were aware of the parental blind spot the Dursley’s had for their son; if anything was said anything against him, such as the time number five caught him being sick in their hedge from gorging on sweets one Halloween, the parents would dismiss it as youth.

Young Harry on the other hand, was quiet and polite if spoken to, the only trouble he ever got into was hiding in various flower beds. Seeing as the neighborhood kids enjoyed chasing him, this was likely part of the game, and he just had trouble finding new hiding places without crushing flowers. A few times he had bruises, most likely caused by his cousin playing too rough.

According to the Dursley’s, his parents had been killed in a car crash and the child still had the scar on his head. There was a possibility of brain damage once brought up, and apparently the boy lacked a healthy appetite.

But for the most part, The residents of Privet Drive ignored the children of number four.

That was until an elderly man with a long white hair and beard wearing a brilliant sky blue suit, and a woman with brown hair pulled into an official bun and a black pantsuit pulled into number four.

There was shouting heard briefly, and then nothing could be heard for a while. Number five claimed that they took Harry away, but why, they weren’t sure. 

It was time for school to start when the woman returned with Harry, who briefly stayed by the car talking to a handsome man with a short ponytail. Young Harry looked a little less scrawny, and number five got as close as they dared to listen in.

“Now, promise me that if you feel unsafe for any reason, you will call me. Even if it’s just a bad day at school, I’ll listen. And I apologize ahead of time if I’m in the loo when you try to call, just keep calling until I pick up, alright?”

“Okay. I promise, serious.” Harry promised, hugging the man.

“Ready? Let’s go.” The man led Harry in, carrying a small suitcase.

The man and the woman exited not long later. And the conversation they had made very little sense.

“Harry will be spending the holidays with you, you’re lucky you were able to get partial custody at all.” The woman pulled him to the car.

“I know, I know. If things hadn’t gotten so messed up...”

“As your solicitor, it’s my job to remind you that your health was and is more important.” She calmly put her briefcase in the boot, then went to the drivers side. “Also, please do not try to spoil Harry too much.”

“I’m his godfather, I thought I was allowed.”

“Only when his parents were alive, now you get to be responsible.” She slipped into her seat. And then said something.

“Oh please, I’m a lord in title only!” He got into the car, leaving a very stunned number five.

There were whispers, what sort of health reasons could keep a lord from taking custody of his godchild, who the old man had been and quite a few questions on the marriage status of someone who had a Lordship.

The Dursley’s however, were largely dismissive of Harry’s godfather, and all attempts to get information were met with subject changes or scoffs that the man wasn’t responsible.

This fueled more questions.

Christmas came, and Harry was picked up by his godfather and whisked away before anyone could try and catch him.

He returned the day before school resumed again, but it was during dinner, and so no one saw.

Easter was much the same, but came with the rumor that Harry’s godfather was called to the school.

It wasn’t until the ladies of Privet Drive had their traditional end of school tea, this year held at number four that they were able to get some answers.

And how perfectly tragic and scandalous was the real story!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someday, I will give names to these background characters... once I finish re-reading the Harry Potter books.

The ladies of Privet Drive gathered all together for tea roughly three times a year, (Christmas, Easter and the last day of school) while they would drop in on each other ever so often, these three teas were considered the most important, and the hostess chosen by the woman who had lived the longest on the street.

If they ever had interesting conversations, they were few and far between. Most often, they were about their gardens and the proper way to grow various plants.

When Petunia Dursley hosted, the ladies of Privet Drive were aware that everything would be in its proper place, and that moving something out of its proper place would cause Petunia some distress. They were all quite sure she suffered from some sort of compulsive disorder, and they did their best not to move things out of their places. The poor woman most likely suffered enough with two boys in the house.

Invitation to the teas was also given by the‘grand dame’ of the street. The hostess could not object the selection (unless it was Arabella Figg, as the last time she’d objected to some one, it turned out the former inhabitants of number 8 had been alcoholics and they had caused a scene). 

And so when the solicitor arrived with her daughter (she had shockingly short hair dyed blue of all things!) the solicitor was invited to sit down and join them while her daughter went upstairs to help young Harry pack.

Petunia had lost some color to her face as the solicitor sat down.

“What’s your name, dear?”

“Andromeda Tonks,” she took a sip of tea.

“My, What an unusual name.” 

“I suppose. My mother wanted to be an astronomer, so I was named after the constellation. My sisters were less fortunate in their constellations.”

“The sorts of things children wear nowadays,” Petunia scoffed, they could all hear her actual meaning: you let your daughter out of the house like that?

“She’s going through that phase where she tries to shock me, I’m sure you know that one.” Andromeda chuckled. “I’m just grateful that she hasn’t yet gone through the melodramatic phase where the boy she likes is destined to be her star-crossed lover.”

Number eight chuckled at that. “I remember that phase. The captain of the cricket team was so dashing and handsome... half the school was in love with him.” There were several chuckles at that.

“What school does she attend?”

“Private Boarding School, it’s why she’s trying to act out this summer, their uniforms are quite conservative.” 

“Ooh, which one?”

“Heathstone College in Scotland.” This sounded faintly familiar to the women so they nodded.

“Now, perhaps you could explain some of the rumors going about.” The grand dame ignored Petunia’s attempts to derail the question. “Young Harry’s godfather.”

“Yes, why hasn’t he showed before now?” Mrs. Figg asked.

“The town the Potters lived in was small, and I’m sorry to say, didn’t have the proper routines in place for such a bad car crash. The Potter’s will, additionally was misfiled, meaning that despite his arguments, Harry’s godfather wasn’t allowed to take him, and he fell ill soon after.” She took another sip of tea. “Anyway, I was hired to try and sort out the mess, I found the official accident report, which helped as too many believed that initial report which had the Potters as being drunk when it was actually the driver of the other car.”

No one noticed the peculiar shades Petunia was turning, too focused on the solicitor’s every word.

“And I was able to find the will, which allowed my client to sue for partial custody. It was finally allowed this past year. Not much more I can say without violating client confidentiality.”

“Who was the old man, then?”

“One of the workers of the NSPCC, who usually get involved with custody changes. He also volunteers as Father Christmas.” Andromeda chuckled, finishing her tea. “Thank you for the hospitality, but we need to get going.”

“Anytime dear, though one last question... is your client really a Lord?”

“In title, yes, but his mother was rather frivolous in spending, which is the mess I’m currently working on.” 

“What’s your opinion of the new Children’s Bill?” Number twelve asked.

“I’m all for it, the bill should make it easier to identify at risk children and get them help.” Andromeda called up to her daughter, who tripped on the stairs as she came down. “And that is why I told you not to wear those boots dear.”

“Right, I’ll remember that.” The teen grimaced. “Heeled boots are dangerous to one’s health even though they look cool, and leather jackets are hot in summer... did you purposely let me wear these things so I’d learn the hard way?”

“Ready to go, Harry?” Andromeda ignored her daughter’s question, but the women in attendance were sure that the answer was yes.

“Yes ma’am.” Harry nodded. “Good-bye Aunt Petunia.” The little boy waved before the teen picked him up and gave him a piggyback ride out the door.

“Thanks again for the hospitality.” Andromeda Tonks nodded at them, picking up the abandoned suitcase and leaving.

“What a nice woman.” The grand dame approved. “We should invite her again.”

Petunia choked a little. “Shall I give her a standing invitation?”

“Of course. And my condolences, it sounds like your sister and her husband were starting to come around.”

“Parenthood does do that.” Number eight agreed.

“Thank you.” Petunia managed, and she seemed to be in shock, so the grand dame changed the subject so she would have time to recover her composure.

The whispers and rumors still persisted, as now the question was ‘How did the Potters have a Lord become their godfather.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heathstone College is based on Glenalmond College, I tweaked the name.
> 
> The Children Act 1989 gave every child the right to protection from abuse and exploitation and the right to inquiries to safeguard their welfare. Its central tenet was that children are usually best looked after within their family. The act came into force in England and Wales in 1991 and - with some differences - in Northern Ireland in 1996.
> 
> So I found this while looking up what social services were like in the uk. Please note the dates.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> new experiment with dialogue... let me know if you can follow it? Cause, experimental... I may regret the house number I chose, but not enough not to post!

Vernon Dursley was a person that most did their best to avoid. He had an opinion on everything and if one wasn’t fast enough they would be treated to ‘the state of the world’ which was really him criticizing everything in the world and how he thought things should be done.

Any new development at work was treated with the same gravitas as if he was to be knighted, and the man could talk about drills as well as imports and exports of his company to an unhealthy degree.

He seemed unaware of just how uninteresting he was, and while his adherence to the lawn code was admirable, it was downright rude of him to make comments about how number nine’s had gone over the limit after the resident had twisted his ankle and knee and therefore couldn’t walk for several days.

No one on the street was ever rude to him of course, they wouldn’t stoop to such a level, but they did do their best to maintain the minimum amount of contact.

And no one wanted his sister to visit. The few times she did, she exhibited the bare minimum of control over that dog of hers and several others were convinced she’d encouraged it to destroy their gardens, though the Dursley’s tended to blame their nephew when they tried to bring it to their attention. (The boy might crush plants while hiding, but he knew not to dig up flowers. Often after they had shooed him off there was a small pile of weeds he had pulled for them.)

As the dog had never attacked anyone, they were unable to try and ban it from coming.

(Lately, they all wondered what she’d thought of the partial custody situation, the Dursley’s were taking more holidays together.)

What struck them all was how Vernon insisted on everything being ‘normal’ and boring. Make a joke referencing a fairytale or legend and Vernon Dursley would turn unusual colors and then change the subject.

Number two’s joke about Merlin had caused the most extreme reaction- an outburst of how ridiculous magic was and how science was far more civilized than ‘superstitious rot’.

It had rather ruined the joke, and number two’s desire to ever speak with Vernon Dursley ever again.

When Harry returned from his summer vacation it was in the afternoon and the Dursley’s were a little late getting home from the cinema. So, after they dismissed the cab, Harry gave his godfather a tour of the street, and even correctly named the flowers he was usually chased out of.

It was adorable. Number two ventured to his fence to make conversation with the two.

“Pleasure to meet the mysterious godfather at last.”

“Wasn’t aware there was a mystery?” 

“Ah, just a little, no one caught your name and what little your solicitor explained only fueled the flames.” 

“Ah, don’t get thrown by the title, it’s mostly worthless these days.”

“Fair enough, who are you supporting for the World cup?”

“Any English team, I’m more of a rugby fan myself, played it in school with Harry’s dad.”

“You were school mates?”

“Old Heathstone College, Harry’s already got a spot there, his great-grandparents were on the board, so their descendants always have a spot.” 

“That’s impressive! I only did private school myself, a fancy school would have been wasted on me.”

“My parents probably felt that way, I drove them up the wall by trying to do the opposite of their traditionalist views. Think mum had a stroke when I decided to try working for a living...”

“Oh, what do you do?”

“I’m an independent Security Consultant now, keeps me moving.”

The Dursley’s arrived at their house, and Vernon stalked over to them.

“Evening!” Vernon’s smile looked painful.

“Evening, did you enjoy your movie?”

“Just fine, it’s getting rather late, Black, shouldn’t you be off?”

“I was waiting for you to get back, Dursley, I do recall your lecture on not being irresponsible and leaving children on doorsteps?” Black looked unamused at the question.

To Number two’s amazement, Vernon turned multiple colors.

“I’ll come and pick you up for the Winter holidays, Harry.” Mr. Black hugged Harry, and the little boy smiled.

“Looking forward to that!” Harry went back to number four.

“You can call a cab from my place, dear!” Mrs. Figg was returning from the store with her usual two bags of groceries. “Just help me with these.” One bag ended up in Black’s arms before he even said anything.

“Thanks.” Black said dryly, giving a polite nod and following.

“Good man that Black. Polite as well.”

“I suppose.” Vernon stomped back to his house without even a polite goodbye.

Vernon Dursley was definitely a little odd, but at least Harry had a nice normal man as a godfather!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The more I re-read the books, the more convinced I am that the rest of Privet Drive actually did their best to avoid talking to the Dursley’s without being impolite.  
Vernon ‘loudly boasting about the new car so the neighbors would hear’ kinda leaves the impression that the neighbors aren’t as interested in the Dursley’s as the Dursley’s think (fear) they are.


End file.
